APIs Provide Great Fodder for Easy Content Generation
I barely need to say anything here, because between Stephan Spencer’s blog on Open API’s and the list he points to at ProgrammableWeb, there’s not much else to say. However, it is important to remember that a lot of API content is going to be duplicate unless you can add some additional value or mashup a lot of good quality text stuff that Google hasn’t seen before. The last thing you want is a great API application that’s seen as spam because it looks like how spammers mashup and re-purpose content.
Now go read those links!
Taking Advantage of the Fresh Content Boost
It’s no myth – there really is a sort of “fresh content” ranking advantage at Google. To get the most out of it, you’ll need real, spiderable, unique content (not like a weather display or updated calendar) on the page(s) you’re trying to boost. We’ve had the most success by using snippets of new content that’s created on the site (in blogs, articles, news items, etc). It’s an easy way to get both the fresh boost and get links in to your new material to ensure quick spidering.
The fresh boost can be addictive and problematic, though – we’ve seen times when rankings would fluctuate several positions when new content wasn’t added to the page, making the task an essential. Ideally, you want to be ranking without requiring new development time each day, and this can be accomplished in mid-larger sites with widgets that automatically update pages with pieces of fresh content. Don’t get lazy and start recycling old pieces or using snippets from other sections of the site. We were surprised to see how “smart” Google appeared to be with fresh content detection – apparently, they’ve seen all our tricks before 
